Lets take a little walk upstairs together. Okay, follow me.
This piece here I call Black Beauty. I knew I had ordered a picture of a horse framed in black so as I was waiting for it’s arrival the name kind of stuck. And I do think she is so beautiful. Oh, and from One Kings Lane, which is a great online site for discounted home decor wares of all kinds. I have been happy with every thing I have purchased, big and small, from OKL, from the rug in my entrance hallway to the salt pig on my kitchen shelf.
Ok, walk up a little more. Now we’ve almost reached the top. Turn around and look back. See where we are? Ok. Good.
Here we are, on the second floor. This windowsill is at the top of the steps. I kept it very simple, with the architectural mirror that…well…mirrors the one at the bottom of the landing in the entry way. The rest of the decor here features framed photos of my kids. The frames that sit on the sill are Anthropologie and the crystal bowl is Simon Pearce.
Our second floor hallway is a journey through which we are still trekking. It is kind of long and kind of narrow with one enormous wall that we would like to cover. We just don’t know how. We have seen amazing giant rainbow color murals while antiquing in New Hope, but couldn’t afford the 5 figure price tag. We’ve toyed with a gallery wall of family photos, but it’s never stuck. We are hoping to find something at the Rago Discovery Auction and always have our eye out for the piece (or pieces) to make that space feel whole. In the meantime, we wait. And revel in the fact that this hallway is much much improved from how we first laid eyes on it.
Here it is now. There is no before picture. I am positive that it is because if anyone had seen a photo of this area before they would have run screaming. It wasn’t tacky. It wasn’t wall papered hideously. No. It was downright scary. The ceiling had chipping, greige track lights that extended the entire length of the hall. I shudder. And actually scary was the bannister-less set of stairs leading to an equally frightening third floor. Oh, and did I mention it was carpeted with a mixture of wool and dirt? My daughter still talks about “the dirty rug”. 
The hideous tracks were the first things to go. I replaced it with this crystal piece, figuring that it was pretty, neutral and could fit with any style that we decided to take the hall.
We had the bannister and window seat pictured above build by our phenomenal contractors and painted the handrail and spindles to match the bannister downstairs. The walls in this hall (as well as in our entry way, third floor and kitchen are Benjamin Moore White Dove. We carpeted our stairs and entire third floor (which, (spoiler alert!) is our playroom) with a light camel colored houndstooth print from Norman Carpet One. To save money, we chose from their selection of remnants, and are fortunate that our carpet is in perfect shape, has been durable and soft and brightens up the formerly horrifying space.
A hall is a way to get from one place to another, and that is just what we are doing in ours; going from one place to another, both literally and aesthetically. The space transforms with us as our family grows. And as it always does in life when looking for something greater, our search continues.
It’s awesome. I love it and I love the folks there. They made it easy and reasonable, and my vision is coming to fruition. So in the past two days my bedroom has become a lot cooler, I say.
511 Ever After 